Republicans want to prevent USDA from implementing rule to control Salmonella

Two Republican representatives have introduced a bill that would prevent the U.S. Department of Agriculture from pursuing a rule to reduce Salmonella in raw poultry products.

The U.S. Reps. are Steven Womack, R-AR, and Tracey Mann, R-KS. Their bill seeks to prevent the USDA from finalizing, implementing, administering or enforcing the proposed rule “Salmonella Framework for Raw Poultry Products,” 89 Fed. Reg. 64678. Womack is a co-chair of the congressional chicken caucus, works with the poultry industry.

The proposed rule, which has been in the works since 2020, would make it illegal to sell any raw poultry containing 10 or more colony forming units (CFU) of Salmonella and any detectable level of Salmonella serotypes of public health significance.

Poultry contaminated with Salmonella is responsible for at least 25 percent of Salmonella infections annually in the United States. It is the single largest food item responsible for Salmonella infections.

Food safety and consumer groups have lauded the USDA for its work on the proposed Salmonella framework for raw poultry, calling it a key piece toward to improving public health.

“It breaks critically important new ground by proposing the first legally enforceable finished product standards to limit the presence of dangerous Salmonella in poultry. This is a common sense but long overdue reform,” the groups wrote in a request for the comment period for the proposed Salmonella framework be extended. 

If the Salmonella standard is finalized, it would also be accompanied by routine USDA sampling and verification testing. The proposed rule would also require that poultry slaughter operations develop and implement written procedures to prevent contamination by enteric pathogens throughout the entire slaughter and dressing operations. Businesses would also be required to  maintain records documenting those procedures.

Womack and Mann introduced their bill the same week that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report that showed the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service had paused work on several microbial and adulterant standards to work on the Salmonella framework. The GAO recommended that the agency develop a plan to prioritize its proposal and determine which standards are needed.

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